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Criminals are adapting to exploit the coronavirus crisis despite overall crime numbers falling by 21 percent, officials warned today.
Scammers have used the pandemic to scam the British out of £ 1.8m so far, Interior Secretary Priti Patel revealed in her first speech on Downing Street.
Today’s briefing came as Britain’s coronavirus death toll reached 917, bringing the UK’s spiraling death count to 9,875. The youngest victim was only 11 years old.
Patel, who has been largely absent from the government’s public response to the health emergency, also warned that pedophiles are trying to exploit the fact that children increasingly connect online to meet friends and take classes. on their computers.
Patel said: ‘Scammers are exploiting the coronavirus as a hook for new acquisitive crimes with losses for victims already in excess of £ 1.8 million.
‘The perpetrators of disgusting online child abuse are trying to exploit the fact that more and more young people and children are at home and online.
“And in the past week, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline reported a 120 percent increase in the number of calls it received in a 24-hour period.”
Today’s death toll is a drop from yesterday’s 980 deaths, which remains the highest recorded in a single day so far and even topped the worst days in Italy and Spain.
But it does put Britain on track to hit the bleak milestone of 10,000 deaths on Easter Sunday, which the country will spend in closing.
Criminals are exploiting the coronavirus blockade with scammers using the crisis to defraud the British of £ 1.8 million, Priti Patel warned (pictured)
The Home Secretary’s first Downing Street address (center) came when today’s death toll reached 917, bringing the UK’s spiraling death count to 9,875. The youngest victim was only 11 years old.
A graph published in the briefing session showed the number of people in hospital beds in different areas of the country. Most seen in London
Figures released by the government also showed that the number of cases observed is increasing because the number of tests is increasing
Another graph showed the number of deaths compared to the number of days in the crisis. The United Kingdom is behind the United States but in line with Italy.
The Home Secretary also confirmed that today’s total cases have increased by 5,233 to 78,991 after 18,091 additional tests were performed, 1,025 fewer than on Friday.
Patel said talks are ongoing to provide charities and the Commissioner of Domestic Abuse an additional £ 2 million to strengthen domestic abuse helplines and online support.
Chairman of the Council of the Chief of National Police Martin Hewitt joined Ms. Patel, who confirmed that 400 suspects of domestic abuse were arrested in the West Midlands in just two weeks.
The Home Secretary said people who suffer domestic abuse during the shutdown will still be able to get the support of the police.
She said: ‘For victims of these crimes, the home is not the safe haven it should be and that is why I have been working with law enforcement, charities, schools, businesses and local councils to address this image of changing threat. ‘
She added: “Our outstanding police will still be there for you.”
With the British following closure guidelines and largely staying indoors, Hewitt said forces across the country I’d seen a 21% drop in overall crime in the past four weeks compared to the same period last year.
Hewitt said officers were still working to combat crimes such as drug smuggling and fraud.
He added: ‘Initial figures for all forces show a 21 percent drop in overall crime.
“That fall, combined with the commitment of our more than 200,000 officers and staff across the UK, the fantastic response from our volunteer special agents, means that we are in a strong position.”
Ms Patel was joined at the briefing by Chairman of the Council of the Chief of National Police Martin Hewitt (pictured), who confirmed that 400 suspects of domestic abuse were arrested in the West Midlands in just two weeks.
The Chairman of the Council of Chiefs of the National Police, Martin Hewitt (left), appears in the photo arriving at 10 Downing Street. He will join Priti Patel alongside NHS England Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis (right)
When pressed to apologize to NHS workers for the lack of personal protective equipment, Patel said, “I’m sorry if people feel there have been failures.”
NHS England reported that 823 other patients had died in their hospitals in the past 24 hours: the youngest was 11 years old and the oldest 102, both with underlying health problems.
Of these 828 deaths in England, 33 of them, aged 29 to 94, had no underlying health conditions.
Scotland confirmed 47 other deaths today, bringing the nation’s total deaths to 542, while Northern Ireland’s count reached 107 after 15 additional deaths.
The increase in deaths came when the police told the British to stay indoors during a warm Easter holiday weekend, but were forced to speak to some social distancing rules that were mocked in the parks of the nation.
In his first interview since the outbreak began, Patel slapped excessively jealous police forces after they threatened to review people’s purchases for ‘nonessential’ items and establish roadblocks to roast motorists over whether their trips are legitimate. .
A man can be seen in the back of an ambulance transported to St Thomas’ Hospital, London, where Boris Johnson is recovering.
Paramedics take a patient to St Thomas’ Hospital, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is recovering from the coronavirus.
On another bleak day in Britain’s coronavirus epidemic:
- A dispute erupted between health secretary Matt Hancock and a front-line nurse over their claims that doctors were overusing personal protective equipment;
- Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer led the backlash over the Health Secretary’s claim that NHS staff were “wasting” PPE;
- Hancock revealed that of the 9,875 who died, 19 were NHS workers;
- Downing Street said the Prime Minister was progressing extremely well with his recovery from the coronavirus;
- Former Interior Secretary David Blunkett criticized ministers’ talks about the coronavirus “Sermon on the Mount” and accuses officials of “cheating” people;
- Scientists said that the coronavirus can spread 13 FEET from patients, more than double the government-mandated 6-foot social distance gap, and that isolating infected people at home is not a good strategy.
Homemade sign in the Yorkshire Moors warns visitors to go home as the country continues to live under closure restrictions
Hancock repeats PPE claims for use
Matt Hancock speaking this morning
A dispute has erupted between the government and nurses after Matt Hancock again warned coronavirus doctors against the excessive use of personal protective equipment.
The Health Secretary insisted that there was enough protective clothing to meet demand, but urged health workers to treat the equipment as a “precious” resource.
His comments, made this morning in a broadcast round, were duplicated in comments made at yesterday’s Downing Street press conference, where he responded to reports from the front line of a serious equipment shortage.
Royal College of Nursing Secretary General Dame Donna Kinnair said no amount of PPE was “a more valuable resource than the life of a health worker, the life of a nurse, the life of a doctor.”
She told BBC Breakfast: ‘I am offended that we say that healthcare workers are abusing or using PPE too much.
“I think what we know is that we do not have a sufficient supply or a regular supply of PPE.
“This is the number one priority that nurses call my attention, that they do not have an adequate supply of protective equipment.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning pleaded with the public to avoid leaving when the nation enters the critical period of the epidemic.
He said it is unclear whether the UK has reached the peak of its outbreak, but acknowledged that hospital admissions were flattening.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today program: “ The good news is that we have seen the number of hospital admissions begin, starting, I emphasize, to flatten out.
“You can see (from the government charts) that instead of rising exponentially, as they would have if we had not taken the measures, they are starting to go down and flatten out.”
“We haven’t seen that enough to have the confidence to make changes.
“The answer to your question, about whether we have reached the top, is that no one knows.”
Scientists prepared the British to break the 10,000-death barrier tomorrow and told the public to obey the rules of social distancing.
In response to today’s figures, Dr. Simon Clarke, an associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said: ‘The news of 917 other deaths from COVID19 is very sad, but not surprising.
‘The fact that an 11-year-old boy was among the victims is particularly distressing.
‘Only two weeks ago we saw that the UK crossed the threshold of 1,000 total deaths and we can expect that number to exceed 10,000 tomorrow.
“It has become increasingly clear that younger people and those without underlying health conditions are at greater risk than initially expected, so it is essential that people observe social distancing rules to start to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “
Of the 9,875 who sadly lost their lives, the Health Secretary revealed this morning that 19 had been NHS workers.
Hancock said: ‘My heart goes out to their families, these are people who have put themselves on the front line.
‘Work continues to determine whether they caught the coronavirus in the line of duty while on the job or whether, like so many other people, they caught it for the rest of their lives.
‘Obviously it is quite difficult to solve that. What matters is that we pay tribute to your service.
A police officer on horseback talks to bathers in Victoria Park, London, as the British continue to bask in the glorious Easter sun
Two police officers patrolled the Scarborough coast while the UK remains under tight blockade to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
In Cambridge, police officers spoke to a woman sitting on a bench in a park as forces across the country cracked down on people who did not respect blockade rules.
Mounted police officers were also seen patrolling the streets of Blackpool to ensure that life-saving social distancing measures were followed.
Mounted police officers patrol Victoria Park, London, while cracking down on people who circumvent the coronavirus blocking rules
Hancock was caught up in a row today after responding to claims of personal protective equipment shortages by urging doctors not to overuse the equipment.
Royal College of Nursing Secretary General Dame Donna Kinnair also said that no amount of PPE was “a more valuable resource than the life of a health worker, the life of a nurse, the life of a doctor.”
She told BBC Breakfast: ‘I am offended that we say that healthcare workers are abusing or using PPE too much.
“I think what we know is that we do not have a sufficient supply or a regular supply of PPE.
“This is the number one priority that nurses call my attention, that they do not have an adequate supply of protective equipment.”
Reports have emerged from the frontline of healthcare workers forced to treat patients with home protective equipment made from garbage bags and curtains.
The new Labor leader, Sir Keir Starmer, also stepped in to condemn Hancock’s comments as “insulting”.
He added: ‘It is downright insulting to imply that frontline staff is wasting PPE. There are horrible stories that NHS staff and care workers don’t have the equipment they need to keep them safe. The Government must act to ensure that supplies are delivered.
In yesterday’s 10th update, Hancock said there are sufficient stocks of face masks, gowns, and gloves, but admitted that distributing them was demonstrating a “Herculean logistical effort.”
This afternoon will mark the first time that the Home Secretary will lead one of Downing Street’s daily briefings.
Before his hospitalization, Boris Johnson was at the forefront and center of the country’s war on the virus, but is currently recovering at St Thomas’ Hospital after leaving intensive care.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said today: “The Prime Minister continues to progress very well.”
A woman talks to a police officer on horseback in a London park as warm weather draws many Britons outdoors
A group of eight police officers were seen walking alongside people performing their daily exercise in St James’s Park in central London.
